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3 killed, 6 other injured when DUI suspect's car jumps curb in downtown San Diego

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Three people were killed Monday morning and six others injured — two critically — when a car driven by a DUI suspect jumped a curb on an East Village thoroughfare and plowed into a group gathered on the roadside.

The westbound Volvo station wagon veered to the right off the roadway in the 1500 block of B Street shortly after 9 a.m. and struck the pedestrians, who were gathered on a wide sidewalk amid several tents and various personal items, according to police, who said at least some of the victims were possibly homeless.

The stretch of street where the crash occurred — in a long tunnel that passes underneath San Diego City College — was expected to remain closed to the public through much of the day.

"I don't know if people were sleeping, if people were sitting there," SDPD Chief David Nisleit told reporters during a late-morning briefing also attended by Mayor Todd Gloria and San Diego Fire-Rescue Chief Colin Stowell. "I have not been given that exact (information)."

The fatally injured victims died at the scene of the wreck, said Nisleit, who offered his ``deepest condolences'' to the families of the deceased. Paramedics took six others to hospitals for treatment of injuries varying from life-threatening to less severe.

The driver, a 71-year-old man whose name was not immediately released, remained at the scene of the accident and tried to provide aid to the victims prior to the arrival of emergency crews, Nisleit said. After being questioned by officers, the motorist was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

Just prior to the wreck, police got a call from a person reporting a possibly intoxicated driver about a mile from the downtown college in a vehicle matching the description of the suspect's Volvo, according to Nisleit.

Investigators believe it was the same car that crashed onto the crowded sidewalk minutes later, the chief said.

 

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